"Herbarium, Juniper"

Etching on heliogravure

Scratch on an original heliogravure from the book Vierges romanes, Les vierges assises, 1961. The book is an illustrated book with images of Romanesque sculptures, mainly seated Madonnas and details of their faces. In this series, Wiktoria scratches floral patterns into the portraits of the sculptures, here a juniper branch.
(Christoph Fuchs)

Today, we are facing the threat to nature and the presupposed stable cycle that founded ancient philosophy. Many of us have lost all connection with nature and live in the anxiety of its inevitable collapse. By travelling, consuming, heating, we leave a constantly renewed carbon footprint behind us that reflects the condition of the Earth. We are responsible for the destruction of our environment, but can our attitude towards nature change without restoring our relationship with it? It is therefore necessary to rediscover the totality of all things as they can be the objects of our senses.
Since 2019, Wiktoria Wojciechowska has been researching for The Study of Traces, a project, mixing installation, photography and performance, to create imprints of natural elements on the body, ephemeral sculptures on the skin, coming from branches, leaves or grass, symbols of an entanglement with nature. Two organic materials - the skin and the plant - influence each other. They create a surface of connection - and a contact, which leaves visible evidence on the skin. The trace is symbolic, carrying its own time and form, only existing with the elasticity of the skin and the blood circulation.
The actions of The Study of Traces generate experiences that has to be shared with others. The ‘structure’ in which the visitor can experience, touch and rest on natural materials, will enable these experiences.
(Wiktoria)